Home sweet HOT home

hello .... I'm home after what seems like for ever.... which was only really 4 days away... I was released today and boy am I glad to be home.... was treated well, but am just glad to be home...

Thank you to so many who called, and prayed and visited.... I'm not gonna write lots now, am heading for the couch.... but thank you SO much....

Paul

Update from Bed # 3!

This is an update from Paul's sister, Carol - who now has all of Paul's pertinent passwords, including bank cards and online banking! For a good time, call Carol!!! (Paul is dictating and I am typing!!) I'm taking a few liberties!!! smile!

Paul is in the hospital with a serious blood infection. Please see Carol's blog for updates.

www.lifeisjustsooodaily.blogspot.com

Bottled Water

Not that I'm a health freak ( I'm just a PLAIN freak ) .... but I like the kids drinking water when they come to my place... ( we sometimes buy a case or two of pop.... but mostly bottled water..... )

The down side to buying bottled water, though... is that if the kids don't end up drinking the whole bottle, there's a bunch of half bottles of water lying around..... and since we don't know who drank the FIRST half .... nobody will drink the 1/2 empty ones.....

So we amalgamate the half empty bottles ... and I use the new "full" bottles to water my one and only plant ...... I presently have 16 full water bottles ( saved up over the last 3 mos ) sitting behind the recliner upstairs, a reminder to water the plant. ( boy this is a long story about nothing )

anyway.... a couple of weekends back, I noticed Taylor had a bunch of empties in his room.... I told him, BEFORE YOU LEAVE to go home... make sure all the bottles are sent down to the basement for recycling....

Dropped them home sunday night and when I got back.....this is what I found...



















LOL .... at least he's not drinking pop!!!

Foxy

was inspecting today up in Miner's Bay ( Just south of Minden ) and as I pulled out of a driveway, I turned to check for cars ( like there ARE any that far north... )

and I saw this fox.. sitting at the end of the driveway.. maybe 12 feet from the car, just looking at me.....

cool eh?

In other news, on my way to my first inspection this morning, I was heading SLOWLY down Highway 7...

I looked out my right window... and a tractor was passing me on the right shoulder ......

A TRACTOR ............... I HATE summer traffic!

Bus Station in Norwood

this cracks me up every time I drive by it....

when I think of a Bus Station, I think of a bunch of benches, a few vending machines, the ticket booth, a couple of bathrooms, and a parking lot....

not so in Norwood!!

Freezing Temperatures in Cottage Country

I was in Coboconk and Norland today inspecting.... it was really cold there this weekend... saw this sign out front of the Marina in Coby...

Made me laugh!!

Yikes.... 8 days since I last blogged

guess what? I DIDN'T die and go to Heaven!

I have been working a lot over the last few weeks....I haven't been back to Brantford since Mother's Day morning....

in fact, so far, in the 23 days of May, I've spent only 2 nights in Brantford... makes you wonder if it's really worth paying rent eh?? jeepers!

I spent last weekend at Muskoka Baptist Conference with my sister and her family and the rest of her worship team...
Carol invited me to come and sing with their worship team....

At first, I was pretty reluctant... after all, I SING SOUTHERN GOSPEL..... and worship songs are a bit of a stretch for me.... but I have to admit ( Dad, don't read this part ) .... I REALLY enjoyed myself....

Monday I was talking to the couple that run the book store at MBC and they said... " That sister of yours can make that piano do ANYTHING she wants... and EVERYBODY follows! " it was a sweet compliment.....

Way to go Carol... you are incredibly gifted! I was proud to be your brother this weekend!! Thanks for inviting a Southern Gospel Old Fart along!!!

MBC photos

More MBC photos

Mother's Day - My Siblings

so we thought it would be nice to have a family photo with our mom..... our only real mistake was asking my brother in law David, to take the photo....

I don't know for sure, but I don't think he likes me!!

To My Mom

Words are never enough to convey love. They help, and to some extent, they work, but the effect is minimal. So it is dangerous to try using only words to tell you how much I love you...

but here goes!

Thank you for always being there.... How many times do I STILL come running, for a shoulder to cry on....

Thank you for being there in 2003 when I lost my job...and moved home.

Thank you for giving up your spot in the garage, for all my stuff!

Thank you for laying there late at night, still, worrying about me, and about my kids... and praying for us.

Thank you for loving Dad.

Thank you for inviting missionaries into our home when I was a kid.... even though it bugged me that they got MY room, thank you, for showing me how to be hospitable.

Thank you for making my lunch all those years...

Thank you for charging me a quarter every time my bed wasn't made.... cause now I make my bed. The thought of having to pay you NOW, with inflation, scares me!

Thank you for coming to all our band concerts.

Thank you for giving up your car so many evenings when we had to go to band practice.

Thank you for helping deliver all those cases of oranges and grapefruit.

Thank you for not cooking liver any more times than you DID!

Thank you for all the buttons you sewed on, and the patches you put on my pants. Thank you for making those rubber play pants when we were kids.... so we could play in the water at spring time. You were the envy of all of the kids in grade 3, cause you made me those pants, and I didn't have to change my pants after recess!

Thank you for making our home a place that I was always glad to invite my friends to... I still do that... Thank you for never minding, when on the way home from church, i would say.. OH by the way, I invited somebody over.... your gracious spirit puts most of the world to shame.

Thank you for bailing me out, so many ways, when I was hurting.... for the money you'd put in my account, for the times you flew out to see me at Prairie, for the times you drove me to camp in Quebec.

Thank you for the care packages, that I would get, that would make all my friends jealous...the cookies might have been in pieces, but they tasted JUST as good.

Thank you for taking me to Sunday School.... and for all the times I embarrassed you with my silly comments. Thank you for loving me in spite of me.... when I was an unloveable teenager, who wanted long hair...

thank you for all of the things you did to enable me to be me. I've not always been proud of the things I've done, or the messes I've gotten myself into. But you have always been there, no matter what situation I was in. Thank you for never making me feel stupid for coming to cry on your shoulder.

Thank you for all the nights you rubbed my shoulders, and brought me asparin, when I had those awful headaches and couldn't sleep.

Thank you for all of the visits we had in the car on our way to the chiropractor with Adell Griffin in the back seat.

Thank you for teaching me how to make cookies. Thank you for not laughing ( out loud ) when I wasted 5 eggs, trying to figure out how to separate the yoke from the egg.

Thank you for all the times you'd not only cook the big meal, but then get stuck cleaning it up too....

thank you for never ever complaining, despite all of the things you've had to cope with in your life.

thank you for all of the stocking stuffers you bought, and for the gifts signed "santa "
I'm 43, and I still wonder whether or not it is HIM or you!!

Thank you for bringing us to Ontario, in search of a new life.

Thank you for making us go to church, even when we didn't want to. Thank you for not giving up when being a parent was not easy.

Thank you for being consistent with us kids, and for being fair... thank you that none of us feels that you favoured another....

thank you for living Jesus in front of us, when words wouldn't have been enough....

Thank you for making home, HOME.

But most of all, thank you for loving me.

I love you Mom!!

My Car

well... my car is starting to cost me money.... three weekends ago, it was brakes and an oil change...
this week, another oil change ( yeah, i put on 5300 kms in 3 weeks... for crying out loud ) and the A/C unit.... I'm starting to get used to seeing my car in a new light.... on a hoist!

The mechanic is my friend Karl Wilson... he's a master mechanic.... and a great friend...
and a NUT!

Music Project

Abby and I got 98% on her Music Report...

whoooo aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Taking after Uncle David

At Christmas time, we spent a fair bit of time at my folks house... along with my sister Carol and her husband David and their kids.... David brought along their deep fryer and showed taylor a few tricks...

I bought a fryer back in March ( yes LISA .. it IS a horrid deep fryer! ) and Taylor has been experimenting with it today... He has been taking a "FOOD" course at school this term, and he's been learning a lot... He sent me out to buy flour this morning, and while I was gone.. he called me...

hey dad, the recipe calls for flat beer... what do I use??
yikes.. how would I KNOW???? try flat gingerale.... how bad can it be???

well it was awesome... the boy can cook.... and he got his hair chopped off... sporting a new summer hair cut.... I LOVE IT!

now to teach him how to clean up the kitchen!!

regardless, I'm really proud of my boy!!

The Funeral

Winston Rowe's funeral on Friday was a really nice service.... the celebration of the life of a very quiet, very honorable man. For me, the part that was the most touching was when Stan Ferguson did the Eulogy; he read 4 tributes, one that each of the kids wrote about their dad and one that Marilyn wrote about her husband..... I was almost sobbing... Bob Scrivens got up afterwards to introduce Carol and me, and he said... " sure is hard to talk after that "

under my breath, i said... then how am I supposed to SING!

Carol came down and played and sang... it was fun... we've sung 3 times this year already, more times than we'd sung together in the last 5 years.... I feel an 80's reunion tour coming on! LOL!!

anyway... here's the lyrics of the first song I did... then Carol and I sang 'Til The Storm Passes By after the pastor spoke....

Day By Day Medley

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then , in every tribulation.
So to trust thy promises Oh Lord
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me, within thy holy Word.
Help me Lord, when toil and trouble meeting
E'er to take as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Til' we reach the promised land


Sometimes the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair;
But Christ will soon appear to catch His Bride away,
All tears forever over, in God's eternal day.

It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small, when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race, till we see Christ.

But just think.... of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven,
of touching a hand, and finding it God's;
of breathing new air, and finding it celestial
of waking up in Glory, and finding it home.

House Prices in Waterdown

Hey Teri... now I know why you keep talking about moving!!

Today ended up being a long day

Tuesday this week, Winston Rowe died... he was 66.

Winston and Marilyn Rowe have been close family friends ever since we moved to Ontario in 1977.

They have 3 kids.... Bob, Bonnie and Paul .... who are pretty much the exact same age as Carol, Bruce and me.... Bob Rowe was about my closest friend when we were growing up.

It's hard to see a close friend lose his dad... knowing that some day, I will lose mine.

For whatever reason, Winston and Marilyn have always been appreciative when I sang..... Marilyn called me yesterday and asked if I would sing at Winston's funeral.... she worded it this way.... " I said to your mom... if Paul is coming to the funeral, he can't come to the funeral and not sing "

oh yes I can!!

but to be honest, as much as I'm stressed right out of my tree, I'm honoured.
My sister Carol is coming to the funeral too, so she is gonna play for me... She lives in Oshawa, and is not going to be here until 10 ish tomorrow morning... and the funeral is at 11, so it'll be a mad rush to PRACTICE!!

So my plans for the rest of the week took a sudden change... my car was scheduled to have the A/C repaired on Friday morning in Brantford .... so I cancelled that appt, and booked one today in Stirling at Wells Ford .

I packed my stuff up this morning, did two inspections, and then left Peterborough just after 12:30.... Mom picked me up in Stirling and brought me back to their house.... no sooner was I in the door than Wells Ford called.....

you want the good news or the bad news?

ummmmmm

The good news is... we know what is wrong with your car.

oh dear.... if that's the good news, what is the bad news?

Compressor thingy switch..... $575 plus your front left suspension whaddayacallit thing ..... $175 ... plus labour.... total, taxes in $947.00

crap.

well I gotta have my car and I can't breathe in there NOW ... what will it be like in July....

better fix it....

but they can't get the part now, until tomorrow, so it won't be done until 3.... so much for bee-lining it back to Brantford to get my kids at 3:30 after school....

anyway... to make a short story long.... I don't have any dress clothes here... they are all back in Brantford... and I don't think I should sing in work pants and a Hoody..... or in coveralls, for that matter!!

There really isn't any point in driving 3 hours back home to get my good clothes...it'd be $45 or more in fuel, each way .....skip that idea...
I'm going to Value Village.....

I tried on 187 sports jackets ( give or take ! ) I even cut off my circulation a couple of times, trying to get a size 42 jacket off, after I'd squeezed INTO it.... funny how all those suit jackets have SHRUNK ....

anyway.... I found some pants that fit, they even have lovely cuffs on them, for $14.99 ... found a belt that was brand new that was only 16" too long ( SERIOUSLY ) for $4.99.... and bought some shoes....( cause my Doc Martin's are in the trunk of my car up a hoist in Stirling :S )

I really didn't mind though, cause the shoes are GORGEOUS ... they're probably $200 shoes, and I only paid $7.99
Mind you, the left foot is a size 11, and the right foot is a 10 1/2, and I normally wear 9 1/2... on BOTH feet....
who cares... I look GOOOD IN THEM SHOES BABY!!!

anyway, from there, it was on to Moores... I found a jacket, two shirts and a tie... $402.00.

Then I had to run to Zellers to get some clippers for my beard... i already HAVE two lovely sets of trimmers...but they're both in Brantford :S .....
It was cheaper to buy a new set for $14,99 than to go to First Choice and have my hair cut.....

I was relieved, cause I was starting to look like Grizzly Adams .....

anyway, I'm sitting in my mother's car driving out of the Zellers parking lot, tallying up my day.......... what did the day cost?

I hear a Mastercard PRICELESS commercial coming on...

Pants $14.99
Shoes : $7.99
Jacket $199.00
Belt : $4.00

Remembering that my boxers and socks are in my suitcase... in the car .....up a hoist..... in Stirling? PRICELESS!!

Back to Zellers a SECOND time to buy socks and underwear.... and just to make it a LITTLE more stressful, I end up in line with my lingerie and I'm waiting and waiting and waiting..... cause they have 18 cash registers, and ONE... count it..> ONE, is open......

Once I finally got hom, I went with my folks to Picton to the funeral home.... and then out for supper.

When I got home, I spent 20 minutes practicing on the phone with my sister.... who KNOWS what it will sound like tomorrow..... But it's not about me, or about singing, but about Winston.... and about the Saviour, who's presence Winston is now enjoying!

anyway, I'm off to bed.... this blog is almost as long as my day.... whadda ya bet Jamie quit reading half way through? tsk!!

Anna with Kylee

to be honest, I'm not even sure that is how you SPELL Kylee..... we had a dog for years when the kids were little, named CoCo ... but every year at Christmas, when we bought her a gift.... we spelled it different... it'd be simpler if we had birth certificates for these dogs, then we'd KNOW how to spell their names!!

ANNA .. now that name, I can SPELL!

Hawk Eyes

check this photo out.... spotted this uh... BIRD? North of Kirkfield today...

click on the photo, then click in the bottom right corner , where an orange icon apperas, to enlarge it even more...
check out the red on his chest.... bet it's scars from catching breakfast!

CBA spring concert

this is for Jamie

Army Buddies

well... I've been running like a head with my chicken cut off..... ( ewwwww ) .... so haven't been blogging as much...

I worked Saturday this weekend, then drove to Brantford on Sunday and took my son and two of his buddies to London to an army surplus store ( Forest City Surplus ... a TRUE gem of a store ) ....

Taylor had received some $$ for his birthday and it was burning a hole in his pocket...

the above photos are the result of their spending spree!!

A Funny Epitaph

This week on the Christian radio station in Oakville, I heard this funny quote ( quotation, Jamie ) from an epitaph ....

" Here lies the body
of Elizabeth Proctor
Who caught a cold
and would not doctor...

She could not stay
she had to go
Praise God from whom
All blessings flow!"


made me laugh!!!

Habs

well... my beloved Habs are no longer in the playoffs ( ok, that colour thing is just ANNOYING ! )

They lost out two nights ago, actually, but I had to have a night off... you know, kind of like mourning their loss!

I will say this... they outplayed the Hurricanes, over all, particularly in the last game! and in 6 games played, Montreal outscored them 17-15 ... ironic EH?!!

I was really impressed with Huet's play in the last few weeks prior to , and during the playoffs.... sigh.....

oh well... Long live Les Habitants..... we still did better than the Leafs!!

Duck in Charge

I was coming up County Road 57 this week, and saw this..... I slowed down, so I wouldn't hit the duck.... and he stood there and held traffic... I started honking my horn ( good choice of words eh!?!? :P ) ....and 3 more ducks started walking onto the road...

NO NO NO... get backkkkkkkk!

Apparently, a Ford Taurus horn is attractive to ducks!!

Baking with Anna

Anna had a hankering this weekend, to bake .... We were going to bake Saturday afternoon, and it got too close to laser tag time, so we waited until Sunday...

We baked chocolate chip cookies and Coffee Cake ...

While we were baking, she took a glass, put a Kleenex inside, and then pushed the glass under the water..... pulled it back out and presto... Kleenex was still dry.

I said : HEY ANNA ... that is COOL! Where'd you learn that?

She looked over her glasses ( Keep in mind she is 14 ) and said... GRADE TWO SCIENCE!!

I guess I was sick that day!

Baking photos